That question will be considered by scholar and author Michael E. Crutcher Jr. when he presents the Grace Holt Memorial lecture March 17, sponsored by the department of African American studies.

Crutcher, author of the 2010 book Tremé: Race and Place in a New Orleans Neighborhood, will discuss the current state of New Orleans and Katrina-related issues that persist in the politics of race, urban affairs, criminalization and education.

The free lecture begins at 4 p.m. in the Institute for the Humanities, lower level of Stevenson Hall.